The 71st Hunger Games
by idk91295
Summary: It's time for the 71st annual Hunger Games. In District 6, Kristen Ward is a tribute, the one thing in her life she always tried to avoid. Now, she has to fight for survival in the arena. 24 go in, but will she be the one to get out?
1. Reaping Day

_HUNGER GAMES & OTHER SIMILAR ITEMS BELONG TO SUZANNE COLLINS._

_Reaping Day_

I jumped awake to a roar of thunder. I sat up in bed for a moment then remembered it was Reaping Day. _Great,_I thought, _Reaping Day, I'm definitely gonna need more morphling for this._I got up out of bed, made it, then went to get dressed. I pulled on baggy, denim jeans and a black shirt. I pulled on a black hooded sweater on too. Most people get all dressed up for the reaping, but if I'm gonna die, I'm going to dress comfortably. I went to the mirror to fix my hair. My name is Kris, or Kristen, Ward. I'm a 16 year old girl, and secretly on morphling. I live in District 6 in Panem.

I went into the kitchen and looked in the cupboard. All we had were mint leaves, one and a half loaves of bakery bread, half a chunk of cheese, two loaves of homemade bread made out of tesserae grain, and a few apples. I grabbed a knife and sliced a bit off of the homemade loaf. I ate it and went back into my room. I listened for a moment to make sure no one was up. All I heard was silence so I lifted up a loose board on my floor and grabbed a vial of morphling and a syringe. I filled up the syringe and pulled up my sleeve. After I was done, I put the syringe back and replaced the board then went over to the window. I opened it and chucked the vial out. If my mom found out about the morphling, I would probably be safer in the Hunger Games. If my younger brother found out, he would probably tell my mom or blackmail me with it. He might also tell Jonathan about it. Jonathan is my best guy friend. He is 19 so his days of the reaping are over. He'd also kill me if he found out about the morphling.

I walked back out into the kitchen to write a note. I grabbed a napkin and a pencil and wrote: _Went out. Be back before reaping._I put on my shoes and looked in the bin next to the door. It contained clothes that would neither fit me or my brother to trade for morphling. I saw a few shirts and pants. I grabbed two shirts and a pair of pants. Just as I was walking out, I heard my brother say, "Going to get more morphling Kris?"

So much for secrecy from him. My brother's name is Jimmy and he is 14 years old. "What are you talking about Jimmy?" I asked feigning ignorance.

"I'm not stupid Kris," he replied tiredly. "You don't act this calm or happy for anything."

"Whatever," I said walking out the door. I walked outside and pulled my hood up. It was raining and thundering. _Kind appropriate,_I thought. I looked up at the clock. It was 11:30. I ran to the only candy shop by me and went behind it. I nearly ran into Tristen or as I call him, Morphy. "Hey," I said.

"Hi," he replied plainly. "What do you have?"

I held up the shirts and the pants. He reached into his bag and pulled out four vials of morphling and handed them to me. I handed him the shirts and pants and thanked him. I put the vials into my pocket and walked away. I was walking down the path past the factory they made parts for hovercrafts in. It was silent since it was Reaping Day. As I passed the Justice Building I started to thinking about the three tesserae I have taken out. Jimmy was never allowed to take out tesserae. I forbade him to do so.

It was still raining when the clock stuck noon. I was still in deep thought that I ran into Jonathan, literally ran into. I looked up. "Hi," I said meekly.

"Hello," he said, "What? No hug?"

I laughed for a second then I hugged him. It was freezing out but yet, he was very warm. "What's up?" I asked.

"I was gonna ask you that," he said. "Do me a favor?"

"Hm?" I replied.

"Pull up your sleeves."

_Dammit,_I thought. "It's, uh, cold out. No way."

"Fine, we can go to the bakery and sit down. Then you can."

"Jon-"

"Jimmy ratted you out to me. So just do it."

I pulled up my sleeves in defeat. Reminding myself to kill Jimmy when I got home. Jonathan grabbed my left arm and stared at me with a look of mixed emotions.

"Again?" he asked with a tone of disappointment.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly.

He let go and we kept walking in silence. "Where are we going?" he asked after a bit.

"Idunno," I said. "I was just walking around."

We walked back to his place and I sat down on his bed. He went into the kitchen then came back with two glasses of water. He handed me one and took one look at me and said, "I know you're scared about today. Your nightmares don't help you either."

I had been having nightmares for the past month about being reaped and killed in the Games. I stayed silent and Jonathan looked at me for a moment. He gave me a hug. "It'll be alright," he reassured. "I'll be there until the reaping is over."

I didn't think he wouldn't show up. Attendance is mandatory. Unless death is stopping by for a nice visit, one cannot be excused. If you skip out & not chatting with death, death might as well have stopped by. The Peacekeepers stop by houses of the ones who don't show up to see how their health is. "What if Jimmy is reaped?" I asked quietly.

"Well, then he doesn't have to worry about you killing him for ratting you out about morphling," Jonathan joked.

"I was gonna do that when I got home."

"What time is that anyway?"

"One thirty."

"I'll come with you, your mom was looking relatively nice today."

"Oh, shut up," I laughed as I hit him with a pillow.

At 1:15, Jonathan and I started back towards my house. When we walked in, Jimmy was in the kitchen wearing a white dress shirt and black pants. My mom turned around and smiled at me and Jonathan. "Hey you two," she said.

"Hey," we both said at the same time.

I walked back into my room and quickly slid the vials underneath the board. I fixed my hair again and walked back out into the kitchen. Jimmy was sitting at the table with Jonathan and my mom. "Did you put the board back properly this time?" my mom asked.

My jaw nearly hit the floor. So much for secrecy in general. Jonathan's face though, was priceless. "I've known for awhile now honey," my mom said. "You didn't replace that loose board correctly a few months ago."

"Uh huh," I mumbled weakly.

My mom was saying something about how if I stole from her for it, I better volunteer for the Games because I would have a better chance of surviving that. "Are you going to change into something nice?" she asked.

"Have I ever?" I replied plainly.

'I just don't want you to be reaped then have the Capitol think you're trying to incite a rebellion by not dressing up.." she started.

"Please, don't mention the word 'reaping' or 'capitol,'" I said.

Around 1:55, the four of us went out into the square. It was still raining and I got a few disapproving stares from other parents for my attire. My mom gave me a hug and kiss then went over to my brother. Jonathan gave me a hug and said, "Everything will be fine. I'll be over for dinner."

I stood in the roped off section for the 16 year olds. I looked around for a little and saw Jonathan standing not too far away. That made me relax. At 2:00, they mayor stood up and gave a speech about the history of Panem and whatever else. I wasn't really listening. Then, some Capitol lady stood up and squealed, "Happy Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor!"

I rolled my eyes. I just wanted this to be over with. I was beginning to get anxious and paranoid. "Ladies first!" she squealed happily.

I shut my eyes. _Please don't be me, please don't be me,_ I thought. She reached in and pulled out a slip of paper. It became so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. She opened it up and yelled, "KRISTEN WARD!"

_Figures,_ I thought. Then everything went black.


	2. What just happened?

I was being supported by Jonathan and another boy when I came around. I must have been out for about two minutes, judging by the time on the clock. Without looking at Jonathan, I regained my composure and walked to the stage. When I got up there I finally got a good look at the Capitol lady. She looked literally like a carrot with limbs. Her skin was dyed orange and her hair was dyed green. I tried to keep my laughter inside. "You're Kristen Ward?" she asked.

I nodded. "Don't you look lovely," she said with a mixed looked of disgust and dismissal as she went towards the second glass bowl. "Boys next!" she squealed.

Miss Carrot-With-Limbs reached into the bowl and pulled out a slip. _Not Jimmy, _I pleaded in my mind. She took great care in opening it.

"SPENCER WELLS!"

_Today is just a wonderful day_, I thought grimly as Spencer Wells made his way up on the stage. I knew Spencer. We were not really friends to put it lightly. Spencer was 18, just my luck, and the apothecaries' son. My first encounter with Spencer was when I was walking out of school and he grabbed my bag and ran off. I chased after him and jumped on him just outside of the apothecary. I grabbed my bag and gave him a swift kick to the face. "Aw, too bad you couldn't grab that," I said sarcastically.

His mother came running out screaming about her "poor baby" and how she was going to call the Peacekeepers. I said, "Look, maybe if your 'poor baby' wasn't a thief, his nose wouldn't be broken. And I'm a girl. Seriously? He just got beaten up by a girl two times smaller than him."

With that statement, I walked away. Since then, a feud has been going on between me and Spencer Wells. He made his way up on the stage except his outwardly "tough" look had slipped a little. His eyes were wide and he was almost as pale as me, and I could blend in with snow. He was in a black dress shirt and black dress pants. His medium brown hair was being matted down by the rain. "We now have our two tributes!" Miss Carrot-With-Limbs squealed happily. "A round of applause for them!"

There was clapping, but it was a weak attempt at such. They mayor shook my hand and Spencer's hand then read the very long, and very boring, Treaty of Treason. It might as well as be called the Let-Me-Bore-You-To-Death-Before-You-Die-Anyway speech. While the mayor was going on, I looked around. I saw Jonathan, looking pale, well, as pale as a black guy could get, and like he might kill Miss Carrot-With-Limbs, and put her in a soup. I saw Jimmy next, standing with the fourteens. _Wow, they are short,_I thought. He looked green, greener than Carrot-With-Limb's hair. Then I saw my mom. She looked absolutely terrified. I couldn't blame her. The chances of me coming back without the nice new line of "wooden coffin accessories," was very slim. I tried to find my father. I finally located him with his "friend." He looked shocked, but not as bad as Jonathan, Jimmy, or my mom. Either A) He was trying to comprehend what just happened. B) He was too wrapped up in his "friend," or C) He didn't care either way. I was going to go with answers B or C. I cared about it as much as I cared about homework, which isn't very much. Finally, the mayor stopped reading and said, "Tributes, shake hands."

Spencer and I shook hands. The realization of who he was going into the arena with must have finally sunk in. _So much for an alliance,_I thought. He squeezed my hand so hard, I thought I could feel the bones moving. I squeezed his back, taking care to dig my sharp nails into his palm. I smiled my sweet, "I'm going to kill you." smile and let go. He gave me his, "You're dead," look and we faced the crowd. The anthem of Panem started to play and I thought, _Odds are that someone will kill him before he can be over dramatic about killing me._

But then again, the odds haven't been very dependable in my case and Spencer never let anything get in the way of his over-dramatics.


	3. Goodbyes

The anthem of Panem started to play. Apparently, it was supposed to help us treat this like a festivity. The crowd looked about as excited as lobsters about to be cooked. After the anthem ended, the Peacekeepers took Spencer and me into custody. Not handcuffs or jail or anything, as humorous as it would be to see Spencer arrested. We were led into the Justice Building, and we went into separate rooms. I sat down on one of the couches and discovered it was slightly amusing to run my hand up and down it. What? The fabric changed shades depending on the direction of my hand. My mom and Jimmy came into the room after a bit. The sat down on the other couch after giving me a hug. "Well," I said. "This is slightly interfering with my plans for later."

"I can't believe this is happening," my mom started to say before burying her face in her hands.

"Try to grab throwing knives, since your excellent at throwing things, especially when you're mad," Jimmy said. "Or a bow, since you can shoot."

"Thanks," I said. "Any other advice?"

"Don't die," he replied smartly. Although, his eyes betrayed his light humor.

"Will try," I promised.

There was a knock on the door. My mom stood up and hugged me. "Please, try your best to come home," she said quietly. "I love you."

"Love you too," I said as I pulled Jimmy into a hug and messed with his hair.

They walked out and Jonathan came in. I jumped up and gave him a hug. He returned the hug and held me in front of him. It was then I took in his height. He stood at six foot two and if his hair was more "afroey," he could've looked taller. Now if he was reaped, he wouldn't have had much to worry about. But me, I stood at five foot six. I'm pale with straight brown hair, and soon to be suffering morphling withdrawals. "I'll try to set up a sponsorship for you," Jonathan said. "So you'll have support."

"Who do you plan on getting?" I asked with wonder. I was known around town, but I wasn't as popular as Jimmy or Jonathan was. I also wasn't as good looking as the other potential tributes might be.

"Me, Tristen, don't think I don't know about him, your family, teachers," he listed.

"Thanks Jonathan," I said. "Oh, if I come back with a new wooden coffin accessory, don't let them suffer without food or anything."

"I won't," he promised. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace. "Here. You can wear a token from your district."

I took the necklace and hugged him again, trying desperately not to cry. "Thanks 'big brother,'" I said.

He laughed and hugged me. "No problem. Just try your best."

He left and my dad and his "friend" came in. "Hey kiddo," he said.

"Hey," said Karen, his "friend."

"Hi," I said brusquely. Not that I was mad at them, I was just beginning to become tired from trying to keep my tears in and from the stress from today,

"How are you?" my dad asked.

"Wonderful," I said with my sarcastic tone. "Just thought I'd kill a few people and be home by dinner."

"No need for sarcasm," he said.

"Just trying to ease the tension," I answered.

"Where'd you get the necklace?" Karen asked, eyeing the necklace in my hand.

"Jonathan gave it to me. As a token from the district," I answered.

She nodded. The Peacekeepers came in, signifying the hour for goodbyes was over. My dad and Karen gave me a hug. After they left, I was placed in a car and driven to the train station from the Justice Building. I never was really in a car before, even though District 6 is in charge of transportation. I just preferred to walk. The ride was short, maybe five minutes. At the station, there were swarms of reporters with cameras. I took a look at the screen to see that I look slightly angry, bored, and tired. I see Spencer arrive and he has about as much emotion as a brick wall. _A brick wall probably has more emotion, and brains, than he does,_I thought with a smirk. I boarded the train and slipped the necklace on. I finally saw it had a black string with a red pendant on it. Spencer followed me onto the train and the doors shut almost immediately.

"Move," he said.

I kept standing where a was. "Aren't you pleasant?" I replied.

"Move it," he said impatiently.

"Say the magic word," I demanded with a smile.

"Abracadabra?" he asked sarcastically.

"Nope."

"Ugh, please?"

"Nope, it actually was abracadabra," I smirked and moved out of his way.

Spencer moved past me but took care to hit me with his shoulder. I looked out the window on the door to see the cameras desperately trying to get more shots of us. I raised an eyebrow and walked away. In the train, we had our own rooms. "Be ready in an hour for dinner!" Carrot-With-Limbs shouted down the hall at me.

I went into my room and sat down for a moment on the bed, which was very comfortable. I started to think about Jonathan, Jimmy, and my mom That was when the first tear fell, then the second, and then the third. _No crying,_ I scolded myself. I went into the bathroom and splashed some water on my face. I looked up in the mirror to see I looked about as thrilled as a cow going in for slaughtering. "What are you getting into?" I whispered to myself.

Miss Carrot-With-Limbs came to get me for dinner. Looking at her, I was wondering what her real name was, not that it would stop me from calling her Carrot-With-Limbs. "I don't know if you caught my name, since I'm a new escort for District Six. I'm Marcy Biffle," she said.

_Psychic much?_I thought. "Hi," I replied. "I think you know me already."

"Yes, Kristen Ward. You're how old?" she asked.

"Sixteen."

"How old is Spencer?"

"Eighteen."

"Ah."

We walked into the dining room compartment and I saw Spencer sitting down next to his mentor. His mentor, whose name I believed was Johan Abba, was a very slight shade of yellow. _Morphling,_I thought. I sat down next to Marcy, wondering where my mentor was. The first course of our dinner was a creamy potato and bacon soup. It also had shredded cheese on top. _Cheese makes everything better,_I thought with a smile. I wolfed down the soup in record time, and I normally eat slow. A turtle could beat me, that's how slow I eat. The next course was a salad with lettuce, cucumbers, cabbage, and chunks of turkey. "Save room, there's more food," Carrot-With-Limbs said. "And for goodness sakes, slow down Kristen!"

I laughed and nearly choked the cucumber I was swallowing so I took a sip of my water. Never, has anyone told me to slow down while eating. After the salad, we had roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and corn. I only had chicken once, maybe. I was expensive. I mainly threw stones at squirrels and dragged them back to my side of the fence with a string with a loop tied at the end. While eating the chicken, my mentor came in. She looked so happy and calm, I knew she just finished doing morphling. "Hiiii," she said in a happy voice.

Spencer snickered and cast a look my way. I rolled my eyes and my mentor took a seat next to me. "I'm Loriana Keptswitch," she said cheerfully. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kristen, Kristen Ward," I replied dully. My morphling wore off, I was not in a very cheerful mood.

"Wonderful," she said smiling. "What are we eating?"

Just then, a girl with a white tunic came and took my plate. "Thanks," I whispered without thinking. The people in tunics were Avoxes, criminals with their tongues cut out. I didn't want the girl to get in trouble by me thanking her. The next course was just some fruit and crackers. I had a few grapes and a cracker. Last, but not least, there was dessert. It consisted of chocolate brownies and cake. I ate a lot of brownies. I'm not too fond of cake though. An Avox boy came by and cleaned up our plates when we finished. I'm trying to keep the food down since I never really had so much rich food. I look over and see Spencer is a bit green too.

After everything is over, we go to watch recaps of other reapings. In District 1, a gigantic boy about seventeen volunteers and a girl looking about fifteen is reaped. The District 2 tributes are a smaller boy about thirteen and girl about eighteen. District 4 has a volunteer girl about my age and a boy about Spencer's age. Districts 1, 2, and 4 are the "career districts." They train the kids before the Games, even though it is illegal to train kids for the Games, so we call them the "Careers Tributes." Those districts normally house the victors.

District 3 has a boy that is fourteen and looks like Jimmy, and a girl that is twelve. _District three is done,_I thought. District 5 has a boy that is twelve and girl that is eighteen. Then we see District 6. It shows my name being called and me fainting. The commentators joke about it for a bit then Spencer's moment is on. I see us shaking hands with the looks and the commentators joke about how the chances of an alliance are very slim.

Next, District 7 has a boy of thirteen and a girl that looks sixteen. District 8's tributes are a fifteen year old boy and a fifteen year old girl. In District 9, a fourteen year old boy volunteers for his friend, which is shocking, and a seventeen year old girl. District 10 has a eighteen year old boy and a thirteen year old girl. The tributes of District 11 are a sixteen year old boy and a sixteen year old girl. Finally, in District 12, a fifteen year old boy and a seventeen year old girl are reaped.

_So out of all twenty-four of us, the average age is fourteen,_ I thought. The fourteen year old boy from District 9 bothers me for some reason. Before I know it, Carrot is rushing us to bed. She pulled me to the side and said, "You have to make sure your mentor goes off morphling or else you probably won't make it."

I nod and walk to my room with this ever so reassuring advice. Once I get in, I stop and then rush to the bathroom. Everything I ate came up and I slumped against the wall, not moving for the night.


	4. Arrival

_Running through the trees, I hear the girl from District 1 behind me, running. She's content on killing me, I think. I see a knife flash just past my head and hear a cannon. Who died? I think quickly but just as I was thinking that, I tripped. The thing I tripped over was Jonathan, with a knife in his chest. How did he get here? He's not part of the Games, I was thinking rapidly. I hear the District 1 girl coming up so I sprint behind a tree. She runs past and I go back to Jonathan. "Jonathan," I say quietly. "Wake up. You have to go. You can't be here."_

_I feel a tear rolling down my cheek. I hear a twig snap and something tackles me. I grunt as I hit the ground. I feel a bolt of pain in my left arm; I realize I landed on it. "Well, well, well..what do we have here?" a familiar voice says ominously. The owner of said voice flips__me over so fast, I don't have a chance to react. I saw the girl from District 1, sitting happily on top of me. "I need an adult," I say sarcastically with a smirk._

_She punches me in the face and I taste my own blood. She smiles sweetly and laughs, "I'm gonna make this slow and torturous for you and fun for me." I spit my blood on her face and attempt a punch with my good arm. The girl deflects my punch and lands one of her own to my throat. I gasp for air and she says, "I think I know where to start. With the arms."_

_She looks in her belt, picking a knife carefully. With an evil smile, she pulls out one with a serrated blade. "No," I say but she pins down my arm and raises the knife. "No, no, NO!" I scream and she brings down the knife._

I jumped up in bed and looked around. _That was only a nightmare,_I thought. I wiped the cold sweat off my forehead and stayed sitting. I could hear the rain hitting the window then I had a realization. "How did I get into bed?" I wondered aloud since the last thing I remembered was passing out against the wall of the bathroom. I rubbed my eyes and looked to my left. Spencer was sitting in a chair, asleep. "Spencer," I called but to no avail. I picked up a pillow and chucked it at him. He jumped up and looked at me. "Figures," he said sleepily.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"Well," he started. "I came in here to bug you about your mentor then I saw you passed out. So I dragged you back to your bed and sat down to catch my breath, you should lay off those potatoes."

"Hey, I am not fat," I protested.

"Then I dozed off," he finished as if I never interrupted him.

"Thanks."

"Uh-huh. This doesn't mean we're friends."

"The chances of me dating a cat are higher than the chances of me ever dreaming of being friends with you."

He said nothing and walked out. I got up, brushed my teeth, showered, and changed into another back shirt from the closet in the room. I walked to the dining compartment and noticed an Avox standing by the table. "Do you mind if I serve myself?" I asked him. He shook his head and I started to pile food onto my plate. There was eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, breakfast cakes, ham, muffins, and fruit. I piled on fried potatoes, eggs, and bacon. I sat down and the rest of the group came in as I was examining the contents of the three glasses in front of me. One contained milk, another contained an orangey-yellow liquid, and the last on contained a chocolate colored liquid. Spencer noticed this and smirked. "What? Never had orange juice or hot chocolate before?"

"I'm sorry my family doesn't drink more than water or milk," I retorted.

"That's because you're poor and I'm not so poor," he sneered.

"Your point being?"

"My parents make more money than you do. How much do yours make? Oh, wait, that's right, your parents don't live together because your dad left."

I picked up my knife and threw it at him. It cut his cheek and landed firmly in the wall behind him. "Wanna say that again?" I asked him, fuming with anger. Spencer's eyes were wide and he picked up his napkin to clean up the blood.

I sat back down and it was very quiet. Carrot-With-Limbs' eyes were wide with shock. Johan was trying to help Spencer. Loriana had no expression then said, "Well, now we know Kristen can throw knives."

I drank my hot chocolate and ate my eggs, bacon, and potatoes. I downed my orange juice next. I got up and left the compartment and I heard someone else get up too. I turned around and saw Spencer walking. _Oh great, what's he gonna do now? Cry for mommy?_, I thought. Halfway down the corridor, he grabbed me and pinned me against the wall. "Rape? I need an adult," I said with a smirk.

"I am an adult," he said, tightening his grip.

"I need a different adult," I remarked cooly.

"That's not gonna happen," he said and hit landed a punch to my face. "Ever do that again, and I'll make sure I torture you in the arena."

"I'm so afraid Spencer," I retorted. "I'm shaking in my shoes. Why don't you just have mommy take care of you? Just like you did three years ago."

He brought a knee up to my stomach and threw me to the ground. Then he kicked me in the face. "_Aw, too bad you couldn't grab that,_" he mimicked. Obviously Spencer remembered that original encounter.

He turned to walk away and I called, "One more thing Spencer."

Spencer turned around and I brought up my arm. I hit him where it hurt and he gave a short scream of pain then fell to the floor. I stood up and looked down at him with a laugh. I walked down to where the medical station was and checked to see if there was anyone inside or around. There was no one so I slipped inside. I was going through the cabinets when I found what I was looking for. There was so much morphling, I could hardly believe it. There must've been at least 150 vials. I grabbed about 20 and a syringe, then hurried out.

I made it back to my room and sat on the bed. I contemplated a good place to hide them. I finally decided to wrap them up in paper and slide them between the mattress and bed frame. I kept one by my side and slid the rest away. I filled up the syringe and found a good spot on my arm. After I was done, I slid the syringe with the rest of the vials and then moved to the other side of my room. I opened the window and threw the empty vile out. After I shut the window and sat down, Loriana knocked and came in. "Vials of morphling are missing from the medical station, do you know where they are?" she asked with a hint of suspicion.

"No, why would I?" I asked, slightly paranoid.

"Cause your friend was asked and he said you would know."

"He isn't my friend and I still don't know where they are."

"Is that why you're on it now?" Loriana asked. "Don't give me that look, I do it too."

I sighed. "I only took one vial, the rest are a mystery," I lied.

She eyed me then nodded and walked out. I looked out the window again. It was late morning, we'd be at the Capitol around sixish. I got up and walked out of the room. I walked around the train for a bit before going back to the TV room where we watched the reaping recaps. Along the wall on the far end of the room, are rows of cases. I move closer to them and realize that they are discs of past games. Each case has the number game on them, the winner's name, and their district number. I pulled out the case of the very first Hunger Games. The winner's name was Post Tassle from District 2. I put in the disc and watched it for a bit. I forwarded it to the end when it was Post and another boy. Post, covered with cuts and blood, was pinned to the ground by a knife stuck in his hand. He ended up kicking the boy in the face, ripped the knife out of his hand and stabbed the boy in the neck. _Wow,_I thought.

I put the disc and case back. I pulled out the case for the 25th Games. The winner was Geruby Uperknee from District 7. The 25th Games was a Quarter Quell and the districts had to vote for tributes. I sat down to watch and at the end, Geruby was leading another tribute in circles. Geruby stopped at the lake, which was frozen over, and turned to watch the other tribute charging at her. At the last second, she stepped away and the tribute ran onto the ice and slipped. Gerbuy ran out to kill him but they both slipped through and into the water. As they were battling it out under water, Geruby noticed he was trying to go back up for air. She held him back until he drowned then swam up and pulled herself out.

I put the disc away and walked out of the room to notice it was around five thirty. I went back to my room, did another injection of morphling, and cleaned up. I wrapped the vials in my clothing that I originally wore onto the train. We went into a tunnel and I realized we were close. _Well, maybe the mountain will collapse and I can avoid going into the Games,_I thought hopefully. Once we exited the tunnel, we were in the Capitol. I walked into the hall and the colors were overwhelming. The yellows were like the sun on crack, the greens were like a green paint bomb, the reds were like someone had bled out everywhere. I waved a bit until I got bored and walked down the hall to where Spencer was. He was waving and smiling. "Just so you know, you got food in your teeth," I said while smirk because he was flipping out trying to get the imaginary food out. The train then stopped. We were finally at the Capitol station.


	5. Capitol

I grit my teeth and held my breath while Septa, a woman in her twenties with blue-green skin, ripped off the last strip of hair on my leg. I shaved with a sharp piece of metal at home, since razors were a little too expensive, so the wax was taking skin off too. "I'm sorry!" she squealed with her peppy Capitol accent. "That's it for your body hair!"

_Why must they squeal every time they say something?_I thought to myself. I have been in the Remake Center for about three and a half hours. _I'm gonna need some more morphling after this,_I decided. I put the vials and the syringe in the clothes I originally wore onto the train.

The prep team decided they wanted to remove all body hair. They didn't wax my eyebrows though, that would be...weird. They just tweezed them. They also rubbed me down with some substance that removed all dirt but pretty much skinned me. I don't think a skeleton would look good in the arena. I sat up, and Septa and two others walked around me. The other women was Autia. She looked about nineteen with goldish skin and silver tattoos. The other man was Ents, a man in his thirties who was surprising normal in skin tone only he had pink hair that stood straight up and piercings on his eyelids. "Let's get Aft!" he squealed brightly. "She's good!"

They all ran out of the room and I looked around. The stainless, white walls of the Remake Center reminded me of this thing we learned in history. Hundreds of years ago, they used to have these rooms to put crazy people in that were all white, except those rooms were padded. _Heh_, I thought. _Maybe a padded room isn't so bad._

I heard the door open and a man walked in. Aft, my stylist, was twenty, give or take, and looked relatively normal. He had a few piercings and tattoos, but nothing too drastic. Aft looked me up and down, examining, but not touching. "Hi?" I said uncertainly.

He looked up in acknowledgement. His eyes were friendly and sympathetic, not cold and uncaring like I thought they would be. Before Aft was satisfied with looking to see if the prep team missed anything, he grabbed my left arm and frowned. _As of late, keeping this secret isn't working out so well, _I thought frustratingly. I knew on my left arm there was one fresh morphling mark and several faded scars. "You're not the first morphling addict to come through here," he said softly. "Just know, those withdrawals, may just get you killed in the arena."

I sighed. Aft handed me a robe and we walked into another room. This room had three walls painted blue. The fourth wall was entirely glass, giving us a view of the Capitol. I sat down on a couch across from Aft and he pressed a button on the side of the table that was in between us. Cheeseburgers with sides of french fries and steamed broccoli appeared on the table. _Casual, not fancy, I'm liking him, _I thought. I picked up my burger, noticing it was big, and took a bite. While eating, Aft said, "You are gonna have to put your hair up. You won't burst into flames you know."

I smiled and looked up at him. "How do you know?" I asked with a friendly edge to it.

He chuckled. "Just trust me. Tonight is the Tribute Parade, so we need to find out what you are wearing."

"Am I matching Spencer?"

"Yes."

"Ugh."

"Why do you two hate each other so much?" Aft asked.

"Long story, so what are we wearing?"

"You two will be wearing the suits that the hovercraft pilots wear with a hat that has an animation of a hovercraft flying."

"Awesome?" I said uncertainly because I wasn't sure how that would look.

For the opening ceremonies, tribute wear an outfit that shows their district's industry. District 1 is luxury items, District 10 is livestock, District 12 is coal. A few years ago, District 6's tributes were wearing an outfit made of entirely hovercraft and car parts. Since District 6 is primarily involved with transportation, we'll be in the hovercraft getup that Aft mentioned to me.

After a few hours, I was standing next to the chariot that would bring me and Spencer to the City Circle. The chariots are led by black horses without any reigns or people to guide them. Spencer was wearing the same thing I was, his stylist Forta, pushed the button on his hat to start the animation. Aft pressed the button on mine. He helped me up onto the chariot. "Up you go," he said.

I was standing next to Spencer on the chariot waiting fo r the doors to open. "Push me off and I will kill you," he growled.

"I wasn't, but thanks for the idea," I replied with a smart tone. "Besides, you couldn't kill me, the horses would trample you first."

"Why you little-"

The doors opened before Spencer could finish his sentence. The opening music drowned him out anyway. The ride to the City Circle is about twenty minutes. After we reach there, we will be lead to the Training Center, which will be our prison until the Games start.

District 1's tributes are dressed in gold outfits, fixed with diamonds. District 5 is dressed as two power plant workers. District 10 is dressed as cows. _Dear God_, I thought. The horses start to pull us after District 5 is five feet ahead of us. "District Six!" Claudius Templesmith announced.

The crowd is screaming and getting more and more excited. Some residents are smiling, yelling, and pointing at my and Spencer's hats. I smiled a bit, and when I gained confidence, I started to wave. This made the crowd more excited and I realized I have to at least pretend to enjoy this to gain sponsors. Someone threw a rose and I waved in the direction it came from. The music was loud and I swore it could have made me deaf. The chariots looped the City Circle and we were headed to the mansion of President Snow. We stopped right in front and the music ended. President Snow came out onto the balcony and said, "Welcome tributes. Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor."

He continued with a speech and after he is finished, we went around the circle one last time before we entered the Training Center. Once we were in there, I dropped my fake smile, slouched, and sighed. Aft helped me down and said, "You were great at pretending. I was almost convinced you changed your attitude towards this."

I smiled. "Was that a compliment, insult, or neutral statement?"

Aft smiled, "Compliment with a hint of neutrality."

I chuckled then looked over at Spencer. He had on his usual "tough guy look" and was glaring around. I sighed and looked at Aft. "I'm tired, where do we go now?"

"Right this way," he replied and he led me towards the elevator.


	6. Good Night

In the Training Center, each district had its own floor. On the elevator that Aft led me to, all I had to do was press my district number District 6 was right in the middle, with District 1 on the bottom and District 12 on the top. Once we all had gotten washed up for dinner & I did another injection of morphling, I heard an argument between Marcy, Johan, and Loriana. "It's not my fault he has the tendency to instigate!" Loriana yelled.

"Well, control your tribute! Because if she throws something else at him, I'll get the Peacekeepers!" Johan retaliated.

"Will you both calm yourselves? Why don't we figure out why the hate each other so much?" Marcy tried to reason.

"Oh yes, 'cause a pre-game therapy session is totally going to change their views! They're gonna have to kill each other anyway! I just want to make sure my tribute isn't getting more weaponry thrown at him or hit in places a man should never be hit!" Johan yelled.

"Well, maybe she wouldn't have hit him there if he didn't kick her in the face! Spencer paints himself as the victim when I saw him fighting with her! Oh, and the Peacekeepers? What are they going to do? She's gonna die anyway!" Loriana yelled.

_Loriana saw the fight between me and him? _I asked myself, keeping my back pressed up against the wall. _Hey, wait, what makes her so sure I'm gonna die_

"He said she was threatening him in the corridor on the train! You were probably on morphling when you saw it! How could you be so sure of what you saw?" Johan yelled back.

"You do morphling too! How can you be so sure you heard him say that?" Loriana countered.

"Will you two please-" Marcy started before I walked in. It was starting to become boring to listen.

"Oh, hello," I said innocently. "Am I interrupting something?"

Loriana and Johan looked at each other then me for a second, debating on whether or not to call me out for eavesdropping. "Of course not Kristen," Marcy said, gesturing me towards the table. "We were just about to sit down to eat."

Marcy, Loriana, Aft, Forta, Johan, and I sat down at the big table. All laid out on the table were a variety of foods. Towards the middle was ham, turkey, chicken, potatoes and corn. On the left side were the rolls, gravy, fruit, and soups. On the right side there was vegetables, more sides, and drinks. I went to reach for the turkey before Marcy slapped my hand.

"Manners Kristin," she said sharply. "We mustn't have anything until we're all accounted for."

I sighed. I was going to have to wait until that miserable excuse for a human being to show up before I could eat. We were all supposed to be at the table by nine, and it was nine fifteen. "Where the hell is he?" I asked in frustration.

As soon as I finished my statement, Spencer walked in. His hair was wet, just as if he just finished showering. _What was he doing in the shower for that long, _I wondered. "Hi," he said roughly before pulling out a chair.

I shot a look over at Marcy, silently asking if we could eat. She gave a short nod and I started piling food onto my plate. Chicken, turkey, potatoes, potato soup, chicken soup, corn, steamed broccoli, and biscuits. I ate slowly, so I didn't puke again. Spencer put every food that was on the table on his plate. _And he implies that I'm fat, _I thought. After dinner, we had dessert. Dessert was ice cream, cakes, brownies, cupcakes, and cookies with hovercrafts frosted on them. I smiled when I saw the cookies and ate a few brownies and a bowl of chocolate ice cream. Towards the end, Marcy held up her glass of champagne. "A toast!" she said. "To Kristen and Spencer for their effort and courage so far in this process of the Games!"

Aft, Forta, Johan, and Loriana held up their glasses to and said, "To Kristen and Spencer!"

The Avoxes cleaned up and I went up to my room. I fingered the necklace Jonathan gave me and I felt like I was about to cry. I grabbed my pillow and screamed into it. "Dammit!" I yelled and I punched the bed. I heard a knock on the door. "Kristen? Are you okay? I thought I heard you yell," Loriana inquired from the other side of the door.

I took a deep breath and replied, "Sorry, I just stubbed me toe against the bed."

"Oh, okay."

I smiled to myself. I could be a good liar when I needed to be. When I was sure Loriana left, I allowed myself to cry. "Screw this," I whispered to myself and I picked myself up off the bed. I knew there was a door to the roof that was left unlocked. I walked out into the hall, checked to make sure I didn't hear anyone, and went to the door. I walked up to the roof and took a look at the Capitol. It was so bright and there were people still out partying. It made me angry. _How can the party about this when 23 of us are going to be killed? How can they treat this like a damned party? Why don't their kids get sent into the arena? _I screamed in my head. There were little stone walls up and I propped myself up on one. I took a deep breath and jumped.

I hit something and flew backwards. I landed on my back and grunted. "Just so you know, there's a force field," I heard Aft say from behind me. I tilted my head back and saw him leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed. He walked forward and helped me up. He gave me a hug and held me out in front of him. "Why did you just try to kill yourself?" Aft asked quietly.

"Because I don't wanna do this anymore. The Games, watching the people here treat it like a party, having them treat us like nothing but objects to bet on!" I cried. "You people don't understand this!"

"Actually, I do. I wasn't born in the Capitol. I was born in District 1. I came here with my aunt and uncle when I was nineteen. When I was seventeen, my twelve year old sister was reaped. No one volunteered because they wanted her to prove herself. She was too young. I knew that, but since I'm a guy, I couldn't volunteer for her. She was killed by the male tribute from District 4 who got a trident as a sponsor gift. So yes, I know what the Games are like," Aft said sadly.

I stared up at him. I wiped away my tears. "I'm so sorry Aft," I said softly. "Was it quick?"

"No, he threw it and the trident's end tip caught her in her neck. When he pulled it out, she ended up drowning on her own blood. The boy couldn't have been older than fourteen and he looked like he was going to be sick."

I hugged him and cried out every last tear. "I just wanna go home," I cried. "I wanna go home."

"I know," he said. "I know. But you have to win to do that. Which means you will have to kill at least one person."

"It's not the fact of me killing people that bothers me. It's the anxiety. The what if I get killed and my family and friends have to watch that happen, unable to stop it."

Aft didn't say anything for a while, he just let me cry. "Tomorrow will be a new day. Let's get you to sleep and don't you overdose on morphling on me. Promise me Kristen," he said sternly.

"I promise," I said sadly.

"Do you have a sister?" he asked.

"No, but I have a brother. Jimmy, he's fourteen," I answered.

"Who are your friends?"

"Tristen, well, he's not really a friend as he is the person who gives me my morphling and Jonathan. He's kinda like a big brother."

"Parents?"

"My mom. She's 38. My dad is 42, same as his girlfriend."

"Pets?"

"Two dogs. They're cute."

"Win for them. Use all of them, your brother, friends, parents, and pets as motivation to not kill yourself and to make it home," Aft said.

"Okay," I said as we walked back down to the hall and towards my bedroom. When we got in, I went into the bathroom to change into my pajamas. When I walked out, Aft helped me into bed. "How long until we are sent into the arena?" I asked.

"Six days," he replied

"Good night Aft. Thank you."

"Good night Kristen," Aft said before he shut the lights and walked out.


	7. Training Center

_5...4...3...2...1...Bong! The gong sounds and we all run off our plates towards the Cornucopia. No! I tell myself, You run away from here! My legs don't listen and keep pulling me towards the now ensuing bloodbath. I see the Careers have no problem killing other kids, as five dead bodies already lay by them. The girl from District 1 is sitting on top if the boy from District 5, hacking at him with her blade. The boy from District 4 stabs the girl from 10 with his sword. The boy from 10 then slits the boy from 4's throat. I see a black pack and grab it. Run! I tell myself but I keep going towards the heart of the Cornucopia. I hear the girl from 3 beg the boy from 1 for mercy but he laughs and stabs her in the throat, allowing her to drown in her own blood. I see someone else, ruthlessly slashing at the younger tributes. I can't see their face but they seem to see me and bolt towards me. My mind seems to send the message to me legs to get out of there._

_I run towards the trees and for some reason, the tribute is still pursuing me. I tripped over a rock and they land on top of me. I wrestle them and I am pinned on my stomach. "Ready to die?" the tribute asks._

_The voice sounds so familiar, it scares me. They laugh and I hear them pull out a knife. They roll me over and I see their face. My eyes widen as I realize who's about to make my cannon go off and then they stab me. I scream and the last thing I see is myself laughing manically on top of me._

__I woke up in a cold sweat and heard Marcy pounding on my door. "Get up Kristen! It's nine thirty! You have to be at the Training Center at ten!" she yelled through the wood.

I groaned and pulled myself out of bed. It was raining, like it has been for the past few days. _Isn't this entire thing the Training Center?_ I asked myself while walking out of my room. I rubbed my back, it still hurt from being thrown last night. When I walked into the dining room, everyone was already seated. Aft looked up when I entered the room and said, "Hello Kristen, nice of you to join us."

I grunted out a hello and sat down. I put eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage, and a pancake on my plate. It was silent for a bit, and I was beginning to wonder if Aft told anyone about what happened last night. "So, for your Training Center outfits, Forta and I decided to keep you and Spencer close to alike but slightly different," Aft said, breaking the silence.

"Oh?" I said with a slight hint of curiosity.

"Yes, you see Spencer is wearing orange shorts with a black shirt."

"Wasn't really paying attention."

"Well, you will be wearing black shorts and an orange shirt."

"Cool," I replied before taking another bite of my eggs. I was trying to stall, because I really didn't want to go. I finished what was on my plate and reached for more bacon before Marcy slapped my hand.

"It's nine forty-five, go get ready," she said.

"But I'm still hungry," I said.

Spencer snickered and mumbled, "Of course you are."

I shot him a look then turned my attention back to Marcy. "Shower, now," she said sternly.

I got up and walked out murmuring, "Whatever..mom."

The shower in my bathroom had a lot of different options. They ranged from chocolate scented shampoo to dye for your skin. I picked a vanilla scented shampoo and a berry body wash. After the shower, I dried my hair and put on the shirt and shorts Aft left out for me. At nine fifty-five, I was dressed and out in the living room. Marcy was mumbling about how we would be late but Aft motioned me to come towards him. I grudgingly did so and he put my hair into a ponytail, like I suspected he would. As soon as he twisted the tie for the final time Marcy said, "We have to go. We're going to be late!"

Spencer and I were the last ones to arrive at the Center's gymnasium. Once we walked in, we had a square cloth pinned to our backs. In the center of the gym, the head trainer Atala, saw us and started her speech, "Welcome tributes. After the Games, twenty-three of you will be dead. That's the hard truth. You all have three days to train here to try to make sure you are the one who doesn't die. The stations are archery, axes, blowguns, boxing, camouflage, climbing, insects, plants, fishhooks, fire, the gauntlet, hammock making, hand-to-hand, knives, knots, ropes. shelters, slingshots, snares, spears, swords, tridents, weightlifting, and wrestling. Don't ignore the survival skills. The majority of you will die from natural causes instead of a weapon. Do not fight with the other tributes. If you wish to spar, we can provide a partner for you. Lunch will began at twelve. That is all."

I walked towards the shelters station but I noticed the Careers from 1 and 2 went off to the swords while the Careers from 4 went off to the tridents. They always try to intimidate the other tributes, bit I wouldn't let myself be intimidated. _Their arrogance is going to get them killed,_ I told myself.

At the shelters station, I learned how to make a shelter out of tree branches and leaves. After I made a perfect shelter, I walked over to the hand-to-hand but the girl from one hit my shoulder while walking past me. I brushed it off as an accident. "Watch where you're going Six!" she yelled at me.

I didn't have a chance to have my morphling and I was starting to experience withdrawals. One symptom is irritability. I turned around and yelled back, "You bumped into me, you watch it!"

"Do you know who I am?" she asked while walking up to me.

"An arrogant, self righteous bitch from District One?" I answered.

"Really? At least I'm not a morphling addict from District Six."

"I'm not an morphling addict."

"Liar. Tell me, how does your mommy feel about raising a worthless addict?"

"How does your mommy feel about raising my first kill?"

"You can't kill me. You're nothing, even your partner hates you. You can't even commit suicide properly."

I snapped. I punched her so hard that blood squirted from her nose. I got on top of her and kept punching. "What did you just say?' I screamed at her and kept punching even when the Peacekeepers tried to pull me off. She eventually was unconscious and it took a group of five Peacekeepers to finally get me off of her. They held my arms back and I shrugged them off. "Get off of me," I growled.

They didn't grab me again but they led me into another room off of the gymnasium. While walking into the room, I saw two Peacekeepers pick up the girl from one and take her to the elevator. The room had a conference table and chairs. Two Peacekeepers stayed in the room with me while two others guarded the door. After about ten minutes, the door opened and Aft, Marcy, and Loriana walked in. "Kristen Ward! What have you done?" Marcy yelled.

_Here we go,_ I thought to myself. "Is she dead?" I asked.

"No, she's fine, except for a broken nose and a concussion," Aft replied.

"Pity," I said while I traced a pattern on the table.

'Why don't you tell us what happened?" Loriana suggested.

"I was walking to hand-to-hand-," I started.

"Clearly, you excel at that," Marcy interrupted.

I shot her a look and continued. "I was walking to hand-to-hand and she bumped into me. I brushed it off as an accident but then she yelled at me for not watching where I was going. I'm in a bad mood and I didn't feel like being pushed around. I yelled back at her, since it was her that bumped into me. She started getting all 'holier than thou' on me and called me an addict. I told her she was first target and she said something about not committing suicide properly."

I stopped for a second then looked at Aft. "How did she know?" I asked him.

"I don't know," he answered then he focused his attention to one of the Peacekeepers. "So what's going to happen?"

"Well, if Miss Ward can keep her temper in check, she can go back to training, otherwise, she can spend the rest of the day here and go back to her floor tonight," the Peacekeeper replied.

"I'll go back to training," I said.

I stood up and Aft walked me out behind Loriana and Marcy. Back on the training floor, the girl from one's blood was cleaned up and everyone was training. Ignoring the hand-to-hand, because I had to agree with Marcy, I excelled at it, I walked over to the knife throwing station. It was no use to make myself seem weak because I already proved I could hold my own. I waited in line behind the girl from District 5 while the girl from District 4 went. When it was my turn, I picked up four knives. One serrated, one smooth, and two both serrated and smooth. I hit two of the dummies in the heart, one in the head, and the other in the shoulder. Satisfied, I walked away.

A bell sounded for lunch and we were led into a dining room off of the gymnasium. There was carts full of food. Orange chicken, rice, creamed corn, bread from each district, sandwiches, and chicken soup were available. I sat alone at a table while the Careers all sat together. They laughed loudly, trying to intimidate others. A few of them glared at me, especially when the girl from one came back in with a bandage on her nose. I snickered into my soup and left to train again when lunch was over.

During the second day, while I was at the archery station, I noticed the District 9 boy watching me. I wasn't sure if he was following me or if it was just coincidence until I saw him watching me at the edible plants and the gauntlet. I couldn't remember his name, only that he was the boy who volunteered to take his friend's place. He had light skin and dark brown hair. Up close, he looked anywhere from ten to twelve. At the stations he participated in, I learned he was good in camouflage and wrestling. He couldn't be more than 120 pounds, which worried me about how wrestling would work if he was up against the 210 pound male from 1. _Why do I care so much, _I asked myself as he pinned Spencer.

Later that night on District 6's floor, Johan, Loriana, and Marcy interrogate us about training. They wanted to know what we've done that did not include beating the other tributes' faces in, who watched us, and how the other tributes look. Spencer said nothing and concentrated on his drumstick while I told them about how the Careers didn't seem to get over yesterday. 'You beat up one of their group, of course they're going to hold it against you," Marcy said to me before turning her attention to Spencer. "Why are you so quiet?"

"He's just mad because the fourteen year old from Nine pinned him in wrestling," I said with a smirk.

"Shut up," Spencer snapped.

I laughed and took another bite of my shrimp. Marcy had the mixed look of surprise and humor in her eyes. After a few more minutes, she said, "You know tomorrow is your last day. They'll be taking you out during lunch by district order, starting with One. The guys will go first, which means you, Spencer, will be going before Kristen. Since you guys are right in the middle, they should be in a relatively good mood when you two go. Now off to bed!"

The next day, we spent the morning training. I went over to the snare station first. There, I learned how to make a snare, that when triggered, it would leave the offending tribute hanging upside down by one leg. I made a mental note to try that snare if given the chance while walking to the insect station. Halfway there, I noticed the District 1 girl bothering the boy from District 9. _Seriously, _I asked myself. I walked over to them and asked, "Problem?"

The girl from 1 glared at me. "Mind your own business."

I raised an eyebrow in amusement. I did my morphling injection before I came to training so she really couldn't anger me. "I would, if it seemed like your lesson worked two days ago. Do we need a review?"

"I said to mind your own business."

I gave the boy from 9 a look to go while I had the girl distracted. "And I asked if you need a review of your beating?"

"You better watch yourself."

"Oh nos, I'm shaking in my shoes," I laughed. "What are you gonna do?"

She said nothing and walked off. I went to the knot tying station and learned how to tie an axle hitch. After I finished up there, I noticed the time was 11:50. We had ten minutes to lunch and until our private sessions began. I decided to go to the insect station. I didn't know what kind of insects the Gamemakers would throw into the arena. Over the course of ten minutes, I was told about tracker jackers and how to identify them. I already knew, so did everyone in Panem. Tracker jackers looked like wasps but were ten times more aggressive. Their stings were extremely painful and caused swelling, hallucinations, and eventual death. There was another insect that made a clicking noise. It was dangerous in swarms and possibly carnivorous.

At 12:00, the lunch bell rang and we were ushered into the dining room. For lunch, we had rice, lobster sushi, and crab meat. _I guess they like seafood,_ I thought while piling rice and lobster sushi on my plate before sitting down. After about ten minutes, they called the boy from One. Every ten minutes, they called another tribute. I was feeling anxious and by the time they called Spencer, my anxiety level was through the roof. _Just stay calm, it'll be fine, just pretend the targets are Spencer,_ I kept telling myself.

They finally called me and I finished the last bite of my rice before walking out into the gymnasium. _Keep calm, _I tried to tell myself. My palms were sweating and I felt lightheaded from all the anxiety. I was coming down from my morphling so it couldn't help. When I walked out into the center of the gym, I noticed about half of the Gamemakers were actually watching me. The other half were fixated on food. I shrugged it off and went over towards the throwing knives. I hit the button to make the targets turn around. I picked up four knives, the same as I did on the first day, & threw them. Since I was actually trying to do my best, I hit two of the targets in the heart and two in the head. I glanced over at the Gamemakers and a few were nodding in approval but most were paying attention to the food. Frustrated, I walked over towards the swords. _I need to get them to pay attention to me, _I thought and I knew just the way.

I walked over to the plants instead and grabbed a handful of berries. Then I went over towards the swords. I squeezed the berries and used the juice to write "District 1" on the dummy. I took a small sword, sat on top of the dummy and just kept stabbing it, but not enough to make the "District 1" disappear. After I was finished stabbing and cutting, I took some rope from the knot tying station and created a noose. I hung the dummy and threw a knife at the feet of the Gamemakers. They looked up at me in shock then at the dummy with widening eyes. I smiled sweetly at them before the head Gamemaker dismissed me.


	8. Scores

I walked over to the elevator after being dismissed. I had too much adrenaline to be worried about how the Gamemakers would react. I wasn't even worried about how much Marcy was going to lecture me about my actions when she found out. I couldn't help it. I was angry that the Gamemakers were ignoring me and the girl from one was irritating.

When I got to District 6's floor, I heard Aft and Lorianna calling me from the sitting room. The adrenaline faded, so the realization of what the consequences may be set in. They could execute me, cut out my tongue, throw me in jail, hurt my family or friends, or kill me off in the Games. None of those things sounded pleasant. I walked in and sat down on one of the chairs. Spencer was sitting there too, next to Marcy and Johan. Loriana broke the silence. "How did it go?" she asked.

"Um, okay I guess," I replied, knowing what the next question would be.

"What did you do?"

"Um," I started with a nervous laugh. "Just some stuff with knives, berries, rope, and dummies."

"I don't even want to know," Aft said playfully.

"I do," Spencer chimed in.

_Of course he does, _I thought irritably. He just wants Marcy to lecture me.

"What did you do?" Marcy asked with a look of worry.

_I really will need morphling for this, _I told myself before taking a deep breath. "Well, I was throwing some knives first, but noticed only half were giving me the time of day. I got mad and got some berries. I grabbed a sword too. I wrote District One in berry juice on a dummy and stabbed it. Then I hung it with a noose made out of rope and threw a knife at the feet of the Gamemakers. The end," I said.

"Congrats, you just got yourself killed," Spencer said.

"At least I wasn't flirting with the girl from District Seven," I shot back.

"At least I don't throw weaponry at other people."

"Ha, you didn't deny it. So what did you do? Show Seneca your flirting skills?"

Spencer stood up in anger. Marcy got in between him and me. "That is enough!" she yelled.

It was quiet for a few moments while Marcy rubbed her temples. "Okay," she said. "Kristen go to your room. Spencer, sit back down."

"What am I? Six?" I asked. Go to my room. Seriously?

"Aft, please?" Marcy asked him with a "help me out" look.

"Come on Kristen," he said, standing up.

I sigh and stand. I don't like arguing with Aft. He's pretty much the only person who is tolerable. Lorianna was okay, but she's normally so out of it on morphling that she can become annoying fast. Johan regarded me coldly, mainly because Spencer is his tribute and believes him. Marcy's so uptight on manners and impressions that I just want to hit her sometimes. Forta's someone I don't talk to often enough to establish an opinion.

When we reach my room, Aft opens my door for me. I walk in and Aft follows. I sat on my bed as he shut the door. He sat sat down next to me and the next few moments were quiet. "Why do you two hat each other?" Aft asked.

"Long story," I replied. I really wanted to get to my morphling.

"I have time. Dinner isn't until six," he said.

I sighed. He was taking no prisoners. "It was a few years ago. He stole my bag when I was walking home from school. I chased him and long story short, I think I broke his nose. His mom got mad and threatened to call the Peacekeepers, who, may I add, were not doing a very good job at peace keeping. Eventually, people in our school found out he was beaten up by a girl younger than him. He got teased and blamed me for it. It's been a pissing contest ever since," I explained.

"I see," Aft replied.

"Yeah."

He said nothing for awhile. I wasn't sure why, but he seemed disturbed by something. Aft looked at me for a moment, his dark brown eyes had this emotion that I couldn't read. "My story wasn't that disturbing was it?" I asked. I thought it was hardly disturbing at all.

"No, it's not that," he said, standing. "I'll see you at dinner."

He walked out and I wasn't sure what to make of his reaction. I know my story couldn't have disturbed him. I shrugged to myself and reached behind my mattress to grab my morphling. I had just got the needle in my arm when Aft walked back in unexpectedly. To make matters worse, Loriana and Marcy just happened to be walking right past my door at the same time. _Oh fuck me, _I thought to myself in fear and irritation.

Aft just started while Marcy's jaw dropped. Loriana seemed the least concerned, but her eyes were surveying the situation. I hit the syringe to make the morphling go in and pulled it out. "Kristen.." Aft started to say.

I couldn't say anything. Loriana whispered something to Marcy and Marcy walked away. Loriana then walked over to Aft. "Do you want me to handle it or do you?" she asked him.

"You can talk, but I want to stand in the corner," he answered.

The morphling was started to kick in so my anxiety was leaving. Loriana walked completely into the room and Aft shut the door behind them. "I knew you lied when you said it wasn't you that stole the vials," Loriana said before she sat down in a chair.

"Okay?" I replied. "If you expect me to pour out a sob story for you on my reasons for using, don't get your hopes up."

"I wasn't," she said. "I was going to ask you about what your strategy was."

_Woah, not what I was expecting at all_, I thought. "Um, I wasn't sure. I was planning to lay low and not form an alliance," I said.

"Why no alliance?"

"Too many emotions. I don't want to get attached and then have to kill him or her."

"Makes sense. What weapons do you plan to use?"

I pondered that for a second. What was I going to use? "Um," I said. "Anything really. I'd prefer bow and arrows, throwing knives, swords, or spears though."

"Good choices, except laying low won't work for you though."

"How come?"

"You'll have the careers after you now," Aft interjected. "Once you harm one, you get them all"

"Yeah, and they're a pain," Loriana agreed. "I angered them during my Games. All we had were spiked maces too. It wasn't fun."

I remember Loriana's Games. I was 9 at the time but who could forget. I was sure even the kids who were 6 remember. The only weapons available were spiked maces. Those who were weak and unable to lift the maces were the first to go. There was a big mess. Blood, brains, and even skin bits were everywhere due to the intensity of some of the smashing. At the end, it was Loriana and the boy from District 2. Somehow, she managed to smash the boy's right arm with her mace. It appeared to be his dominant arm so he was done. He caught her left hand with his weak swings. Loriana fought through the pain of a broken hand and smashed her mace into his head, killing him.

I thought about Johan and remembered my grandma told me about Johan's Games. I believe it was the 31st Hunger Games. All she told me was that he was reaped at 17 with his 12 year old sister. Apparently, from what I was told, it came down to him and his sister. Neither one of them wanted to kill each other so the Gamemakers created a disaster that ultimately killed his sister. _That would explain his morphling issue and why he's so emotionless_, I thought to myself.

"I remember that," I said to Loriana regarding her Games.

She gave a small smile. "Everyone does," she said. "Come on, let's go to dinner."

Dinner was ham and chicken with roasted potatoes. There was also a soup with a creamy broth and bits of chicken, potatoes, and turkey in it. I knew the Capitol wanted to not feed us too much because our interviews were in two days. After dinner, we sat down to watch the scores. When they showed the scores, the tribute's picture showed up with the score written below.

The boys from Districts 1 and 2 scored tens while the girls from 1 and 2 scored nines. The pair from District 4 got tens too. Typical of the Careers to get nines and tens. The girls from 3 and 5 got fives while they boy from 3 got a six and the boy from 5 got a four.

Then Spencer's picture flashed up. The score below; an eight. "Not bad, not bad," Marcy said.

Next my picture flashed up. Underneath it was a ten. "A ten?" I asked surprised.

"Maybe they liked your determination?" Aft suggested.

"Determination?" I asked, confused.

"They weren't paying attention to you and you were determined to get their attention. Plus you were determined to get the other tributes to see you weren't weak."

"Maybe they just wanted District one to get mad that I got a higher score than her. It would definitely get her to target me first."

"That too," Aft agreed. "Why don't you get some sleep. You have to get up early tomorrow."

"Can I finish seeing the scores first?" I asked.

He nodded. During our conversation, I missed District 7's scores. District 8's male received a nine while the female got a four. District 9's male received a six. District 9, 10, and 11's females received sevens. District 10 and 11's males scored fives. District 12's male received an eight and the female scored a three.

Aft looked at me when the TV was shut off. I yawned and stood up. When I was back in my room, I got ready for bed. When I laid down, I started to wonder what my family was thinking. My mom and Jimmy would be proud. Jonathan would be smiling and playfully tease me about not getting a twelve. My dad and his "friend" would probably be smiling.

The thought of my family and friends being happy made me smile for second. Then I got comfortable in my bed and fell asleep into an abyss of more nightmares.


	9. Interviews

I was jolted awake by a loud bang in the hallway. I groaned and rolled out of bed. _What the hell is going on?_ I thought irritably. When I opened my door I saw Spencer standing up while an Avox girl was down on the floor with a bloody nose . I looked at Spencer. "What the hell?" I asked.

Spencer didn't get a chance to speak before Johan, Marcy, Loriana, Aft, and Forta arrived. "What in the world is going on here?" Marcy asked.

I moved into the hall and helped up the Avox girl, seeing that no one else was going to. She nodded her head in thanks and quickly walked away. "I was walking around and she was in my way," Spencer explained, without remorse.

"So you punched her?" Aft asked in disbelief.

"Pushed, to be exact."

"Then why did she have a bloody nose?" I questioned.

"When I went to push her, I accidentally hit her with my head."

"The fact that you can be so open about it, without expressing remorse, is truly disgusting," Loriana said to him.

"She was asking for it. She's the help around here, so I can do what I wish to her. My dad said they're traitors to Panem," Spencer said to her.

"This is why I will take great pleasure in killing you soon," I said. "You hurt a defenseless girl who can't speak on her own behalf. Is that how you get off? Hurting girls when you aren't happy? I suppose Miss District Seven has to be careful around you."

Spencer opened his mouth to retort but Aft cut him off. "Kristen has a point Spencer. You hurt a girl who can't even talk. You think she's below you because she works around here. Once it gets out, and trust me, it will, you will be the first target in the arena."

Spencer didn't say anything, just stormed off. "Johan, go after him. It's time to start anyway," Aft said. "Kristen, go with Marcy."

I sighed. Interview preparation. "Can I get dressed first," I asked.

Aft nodded and I walked back into my room. I brushed my hair, brushed my teeth and got dressed. As soon as I had the shirt over my head, Marcy came through the door holding heels and a dress. _Oh no_, I thought. Dresses and heels, I hated them with a passion. "I don't know why Aft told you to get dressed. Go put these on," Marcy said.

Over the course of four hours, Marcy tried to teach me how to walk, sit, smile, keep eye contact, use hand gestures, smile, and have good posture. Walking in the heels was horrible. I kept tripping and stumbling. The dress got caught in the heels too. "For goodness sake Kristen!" Marcy yelled after I tripped for the fiftieth time.

"I'm sorry!" I yelled back. "I never did this before!"

"Just take them off! I'm sure Aft is going to put you in flats anyway," she said angrily.

Sitting and posture were combined. It was just as bad as walking with heels. Every time I sat in a chair, I slouched. Every time I got up, I slouched. "Kristen, stay straight!" Marcy exclaimed.

"It hurts!" I yelled. I wasn't lying. Sitting and standing straight was painful. Slouching was much better.

"I will have Aft fix a brace into your outfit to make you be straight!"

"I'd probably find a way to slouch then too," I mumbled.

"I bet you would," Marcy replied. "Let's try smiling."

"Great.."

After making me stand in front of the mirror for an hour practicing smiling, Marcy got fed up with that too. "Stop faking it!" she yelled. "Pretend you like these people, not wanting to kill them!"

"Oh yes, because I totally want to like people who are betting on how long I live!" I yelled back.

"I said to pretend! You pretended on the parade!"

"That was because Aft asked me to! It was also the day we arrived!"

"Then I'll get Aft to ask you, since his request means so much to you!" she yelled sarcastically while rubbing her temples. "Let's try eye contact."

I failed at eye contact too. Unless I become really angry, I cannot keep eye contact. The only time I could keep eye contact was when I was saying something, which was normally not for a long period of time. "Great," Marcy said. "You can't sit up straight, stand up straight, walk without tripping, smile, or keep eye contact for an extended period of time. I'm not even going to suggest us practicing hand gestures because I know you're great with them."

She was referring to my use of them when sticking up the middle finger at Spencer. I smiled at the memories. It usually went with him saying something, me giving him the finger, and Marcy going off about manners. "Why didn't you smile like that before?" Marcy asked exasperated.

I just shrugged. She opened her mouth to retaliate before Loriana knocked and opened my door. "Lunch," she said looking at the both of us with a curious look.

Finally, my time with Marcy was finished. After lunch I would be with Loriana. For lunch we had some chicken with an orange sauce on top of wild rice. "How did it go?" Loriana asked us.

"Great," Johan replied. "We know what Spencer's tactic is going to be."

"What's that?" Marcy inquired.

"You guys are going to see it anyway. He's going to be charming but threatening."

I nearly choked on my forkful of chicken and rice. Spencer? Charming? Impossible.

"Are you okay Kristen?" Johan asked. I nodded and he continued, "How was your time?"

"Oh," Marcy laughed nervously. "There are no words."

We finished the meal in silence. After the Avoxes cleared our area, Loriana and I went into the sitting room. Once we were situated she said, "We need to work on your interview angle. Fierce, ruthless, sexy, aloof, something."

We tried the sexy angle first. I just didn't have the confidence to go along with it. Then we tried the fierce angle but apparently there was something about me that gave off a sense of vulnerability. After humble and aloof failed, Loriana suggested that we try to pull of ruthless.

"I don't want to be a psychopath," I said. It was true. I didn't want to lose my sanity.

We tried mysterious next. It almost succeeded but Loriana called the mysterious angle quits. "Hmm..." she said. "We can try a mix."

"A mix of?" I asked. I was curious.

"Mysterious and aloof with touches of ruthlessness and humbleness."

"How is that working?"

"When asked about the Capitol, give vague answers with an indifferent voice. When asked about the other tributes, make it seem like you're ready to fight. Caesar will ask you one or two personal questions, so show off you humble side with that."

"Sounds good."

That night, I ate alone in my room. I just felt like being alone. I ordered a bunch of food. Lamb stew, potatoes, roast beef, chicken, corn, salad, and turkey. After I ate, I stacked the plates by the door neatly for the Avox, did a morphling injection, and went to bed.

I woke up the next morning to see it was still raining. I sighed and got up to go get breakfast. At the table the prep teams were sitting. "Hi Kristen!" Septa said.

I groaned out a hello and sat down at the table. Breakfast was oatmeal. I ate slowly while listening to the TV Marcy had on in the sitting room. "A hurricane, passing through the coast of District 4," has left us with some of its rain.." a weather reporter said.

After breakfast my prep team worked on me until about four in the afternoon. My skin was washed down and made to shine. My nails were cut and clear nail polish was put on them. My hair was put into a braid. Ents went to work on my face. He put blush and some eye makeup on. He used a fine layer of cover up to make sure no blemishes were showing. Finally, everyone but Septa left and Aft entered the room.

Aft had my dress and my shoes with him. I was grateful because I was naked. Being naked wasn't something I did often so the feeling was still new. "Close your eyes Kristen," he instructed.

I did and I felt the dress slip on. I stepped into my shoes with the help of Septa. "Open up Kristen," she said.

I opened my eyes and saw me dress and my flat shoes. The dress was a nice shade of silver, came down to my knees, had thin shoulder straps, and sparkled lightly. The shoes were also silver but a lighter shade. I ran my hands over the fabric and felt something hard towards the back. "Marcy demanded something be sewn into the dress to help with your posture," Aft explained after seeing my confused look in the mirror.

_That little..._I thought angrily. "I thought she was kidding about that," I said, trying to keep the anger inside.

Aft just shrugged. "You ready?" he asked.

"I guess," I said.

"Marcy doesn't seem to optimistic," he said. "She asked me to ask you to pretend."

"And?"

"Pretend to like these people?"

"Fine. Marcy seems to think I'm an angry person anyway."

"You are angry, around people who nag you all the time. Just pretend you're talking to me."

Soon enough, it was time to go. The stage constructed in front of the Training Center has a roof added on because of the rain.

In front of the elevator, Marcy, Loriana, Johan, Forta, Spencer, and Spencer's prep team were waiting. Spencer was dressed in a black suit with a silver tie. His face had also been covered in blush and cover up. His hair was left alone though. "Ready?" Forta asked before we stepped into the elevator.

When we stepped out of the elevator, the 22 other tributes were being lined up. I would be on half way through, before Spencer. The girl always preceded the boy in the interviews. Marcy comes over to Spencer and I before we parade onto stage. "Remember, straight Kristen," she hisses.

When we stepped onto stage to take our seats in the arc, I got an overwhelming feeling of stage fright. I looked around to distract myself. A seating unit, with a covering on top, was set up in front of the stage for the high standing citizens. They stylists had claim to the front row. On the balconies, television crews were setting up their equipment. The interviews would be broadcasted live tonight. The City Circle and the streets were packed with people. I was sure the power would be on everywhere.

Caesar Flickerman, who looked much younger than he was, came up onto the stage. Caesar had been hosting the interviews for about 40 years. His looks didn't change much. Still caked up with makeup. Same haircut. Except this year it was green. His eyes and lips were green too. Once he sat down, he smiled and told a few jokes.

The girl from District 1, the girl I fought with, went to the center of the stage. I can tell she's going for the confident angle just from her demeanor. I smirked when I saw the healing cut by her nose. She sat down across from Caesar. "Oh dear," Caesar said. "What happened for you to get that cut?"

"Let's just say, District Six is not very friendly," she replied, send a look towards my way.

With that, the audience let out a sigh of sympathy and the buzzer went off and I realized she may have just killed a chance at sponsors for Spencer, not that I cared, and me.

The interviews went by as I tried to think of a way to save myself. I caught Aft's look and realized he knew we were damaged. I watched him turn around to someone behind him and attempt to start a discussion with them.

While thinking, I heard some of the other tributes' angles. The District 1 boy was ruthless and bloodthirsty. District 2's girl was the same. District 4's girl was being aloof. When the buzzer sounded for the boy from 5, I got ready. I had already thought of a way to take out one's girl.

I went for the center of the stage when they said my name. I sat down across from Caesar and put on my best smile. "Hello Kristen," Caesar said. "So tell me, do you like the Capitol."

_Vauge with indifference,_ I reminded myself. "It's okay," I said.

'"How did you find training?"

"Interesting."

"How about the other tributes?"

I laughed. "They're okay. Except for District one. They're not very nice to the others."

I noticed some of the audience shot looks towards the District 1 tributes.

"Oh," Caesar responded. "Are you ready to fight?"

"I'm ready to go."

"Very good, very good. So tell us about home. How is it?"

"It's good. I live with my mom and my brother."

"I bet they think you look wonderful. That's a nice dress, don't you think?" Caesar asked the audience.

I noticed the cameras focus towards Aft while the audience screamed their approval. "One more question," Caesar says. "Who at home gave you the necklace you were wearing when you first arrived?"

"Jonathan," I replied. "He gave it to me to remind me of home."

"That's nice," Caesar said as the buzzer sounded.

I sat back down in my chair while Spencer took the center stage. He complimented Caesar's color and his suit. _Suck up_, I thought.

The two exchanged some jokes and commentary. "Are you ready for the arena?" Caesar asked.

"Oh yeah," Spencer replied. "I'm definitely ready."

"Good, good," Caesar replied. "Any special person back at home?"

Spencer laughed. "No."

Caesar laughed as the buzzer went off. Spencer took his seat. The rest of the interviews went on. The District 7 girl kept hinting about a "her and Spencer" relationship. The District 9 boy was quiet. After the District 12 boy went, we stood for the anthem. On the way back to inside the Training Center, the crowd slowed out progress, everyone trying to get one last glimpse of us before we go into the arena. In all the chaos, I was separated from Aft and the rest. I turned a corner and walked in on something I would never forget.

Spencer and District 1's male. Together. Kissing.


End file.
